Thousandfur
by Arylayne
Summary: Lucille Heartifilia is the heiress to Fiore's throne and so beautiful, that even her father takes an interest in her. Will there be a knight to rescue her or has she to free herself from her father's shackles? Rated T to be safe. StiCy now,NaLu endgame?
1. A father's decision

**Hello guys ;)**

**I felt like taking on some old fairy tales and give them a little twist. I decided to start with Thousandfur, here a wiki-link if you want to spoil yourselves .org/wiki/Allerleirauh. It's not going to turn out exactly like the original anyway. I decided to make a multichaptered fic, since it has too much potential for a one-shot in my opinion. If someone is actually going to read it, I 'll already have some ideas on some other fairy tales like Snow White, The seven swans and Beauty and the Beast. Ah well, please don't mind mistakes in grammar and spelling, I am no native speaker, unfortunately :(. I also hope my style of writing is not too crappy. Just review if you like the story, so I know if you want me to continue or not...**

**Disclaimer: Neither Fairy Tail nor Thousandfur are mine ...**

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**Thousandfur**

Once upon a time there was a king in Fiore. His beloved wife was said to be the most beautiful woman ever seen in all of the lands. Her hair was like spun gold and her eyes were blue as the sky itself. Her shape was slender but voluptuous and her smile as mesmerizing as the brightest star. The king was devoted to his beautiful wife and tried to fulfill her every wish. For him, seeing her smile was the most beautiful thing on earth. But their happiness was destroyed to soon.

When the queen gave birth to their daughter, she couldn't bare the exertion and died in childbed. The king grieved for months and months, neglecting his kingdom and the daughter that was born to him and leaving her in the care of her personal maid Virgo.

He promised himself to never marry again, unless he would find someone even more beautiful and gentle than his beloved wife. He sent his daughter to the castle of his younger brother, to let her be raised there, until she would reach childbearing age. His plan was to marry her off to some kingdoms' prince, since he couldn't bare her presence, because he blamed her for her mother's sudden death.

The little princess, named Lucille, but called Lucy by everyone, grew up to be a very gentle and caring girl. She was liked by everyone around her and known to not to look down on people but to even treat the lowliest peasant as one of her own kind. Her uncles young sons, who grew up with her, all held the young princess dear. On the day of her 17th birthday, her father sent one of his trusted servants to take her back to the royal castle in order to find a suitable match for her.

Due to good weather and lucky circumstances, the princess arrived earlier than expected at her father's castle, whom she hadn't met in 16 years. After her arrival, she begged his underling to be allowed to have a look at the royal garden, since her uncle had told her that her late mother had especially loved the rose garden. The king's servant couldn't withstand the mesmerizing girl's pleading and allowed her to have a look at the garden, while he was going to inform the king about their arrival. Unbeknownst to him, the king himself was taking a stroll through the rose garden at that time.

While slowly wandering through the garden. his gaze was suddenly drawn to a young maiden, dressed in a honey colored tight-fitted dress. Her hair had the color of melted gold and fell in heavy curls down her lovely back, while her chocolate brown eyes were framed by the longest lashes. Moreover her shape was frail and delicately voluptuous at the same time. Not to talk about her flawless milk colored skin, which easily revealed her lightly flushed cheeks and let her rose coloured full lips stand out even more. She was by far the most beautiful being he had ever laid his eyes upon, even more beautiful than his long deceased wife.

Having come to this conclusion, the awe-struck king decided to have the maiden marry him, whoever she might be. As a king he could easily supply her with riches and a title, so that she would fit the image of a queen, not only in appearance.

He slowly approached the young lady, a friendly smile on his aging but handsome face and asked her for her name. The maiden had been so lost in thought that she didn't notice him at all, unless he raised his voice to speak to her. But the moment he asked her for her name, she was rendered speechless and all the color was drained from her lovely face. She shyly looked down on the ground and whispered "I am Lucille Heartfilia, your daughter, my king. "

This response left the king speechless in return. Too startled by the revelation of her identity, he turned around without an answer and told his servants to look after the princess. Said princess was left heartbroken, since she saw her father's reaction as an indication that he still blamed her for her mother's death. Lost in her own thoughts once again she barely noticed Virgo urging her to get ready for dinner.

A dinner the king didn't attend to, under the pretense of having left to much work on his desk and having already taken in a light supper. So once again Lucy felt confirmed in her belief that the king hated her. But instead the king had fallen in despair himself, having fallen for his own daughter, who so much resembled his late wife and even surpassed her in looks. He tried to concentrate on his work but couldn't shake off the thought, that he was free to marry whomever he wanted, since he was the king.

The next day, the king announced that a grand ball would be held in one week's time, where all eligible princes from the surrounding countries would be invited to find a suitable husband for his daughter. And at the end of the night, he would decide whom he deemed to be the most suitable according to the country's riches, the prince's qualities and his chemistry with his daughter.

The king had decided to have the ball as soon as possible, to not fall under the spell of his daughter any further, since the rare occasions where he talked to her, not only confirmed to him how outstandingly beautiful, but also how kind her personality and bright her mind was. He barely slept during the night and seldom ate, disgusted by his own desire for his flesh and blood, but at the same time not able to distract his thoughts from the very same.

On the day before the ball, Lucy was very nervous about the prospect of meeting many eligible suitors. She was wondering, if she might take a liking to one of them and if the king might agree with her choice or would force his choice on her. Knowing her willful father, she feared that she wouldn't be the one to make the choice, so she promised herself to haveat least as much fun as possible. She already heard from Virgo which princes were going to attend the ball. Well, that wasn't really the right expression… it was more like she made Virgo steal the princes' description from her father's desk and read it, while she was sitting on her luxurious bed in her chamber. The descriptions were in form of little profiles, written by the head spy Capricorn.

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Prince: Leonardo Celeste

Country: Celeste

Major export goods: Wine, leather, luxury goods

Estimated wealth: £216 million

Appearance: tall and toned, orange reddish hair, emerald eyes, described as very handsome

Special traits: notorious womanizer, good with weapons, keeps his promises

Likes: cats, women, good food

Hates: dogs, people who mistreat others

Prince: Natsu Dragneel

Country: Naar

Major export goods: Spices, horses and oil

Estimated wealth: £358 million

Appearance: tall and muscular, salmon-colored (pink) hair, brown droopy eyes

Special traits: good fighter, very loyal to his friends and subordinates, fiery

Likes: cats, tournaments, challenges

Hates: Prince Gray Fullbuster

Prince: Gray Fullbuster

Country: Kooru

Major export goods: Transportation, scientific ideas, Tuna

Estimated wealth: £416 million

Appearance: tall and toned, raven colored hair, dark-blue slanted eyes

Special traits: cool exterior but stands in for his beliefs, artistic

Likes: sculpturing, cold weather

Hates: Prince Natsu Dragneel

Prince: Hibiki Lantis

Country: Grimm

Major export good: literature, financial advisors, sausages

Estimated wealth: £389 million

Appearance: lean, brown smooth hair, amber eyes, described as very handsome and charming

Special traits: another notorious womanizer, good strategist, smart

Likes: women, money and math

Hates: people who act rashly

Prince: Rogue Cheney

Country: Eire

Major export good: good musicians, lumber and whiskey

Estimated wealth: £235 million

Appearance: tall and toned, jet black hair, red eyes

Special traits: serious & mysterious, every word he speaks &action he takes is well thought of and to the point

Likes:?

Hates:?

Prince: Sting Eucliffe

Country: Cumbria

Major export good: good manners, medicine and jewelry

Estimated wealth: £398 million

Appearance: toned build, wheat blonde hair, gray eyes

Special traits: good fighter, sharp tongue, but true at heart and to his friends, smart, a bit arrogant

Likes: fighting, his comrades and family

Hates: pretentious people

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After reading the descriptions of the different princes Lucy tried to picture them and also to picture herself talking to everyone of them. She was wondering if one of them might suit her taste…

Then after reading the descriptions again, shortly before going to bed, she felt a tingling sensation while thinking of one of the princes. A nagging feeling of familiarity, as if she had met the person before…

Had she?

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_Lucy was dreaming._

_She was standing in the middle of the maze at her uncle's place, where she had grown up. She had played with her cousins and this friend of theirs who was visiting from another kingdom, together with his father who was an old friend of her uncle. What was that boys name again? _

_But she shouldn't get distracted now; after all it was his fault that she got lost in the maze in the first place. The boys had been planning on playing "Knights and Outlaws" and when she had wanted to join in, this stupid boy told her she couldn't because "she was a girl and far too weak…"_

_So she ran off into the maze and got lost. Way to prove her point…._

_She felt like she was already walking around the maze for hours, not able to find her way out. She started to feel tired and hungry and wasn't it even starting to get dark? But she wasn't allowed to cry, because that would just prove this stupid boy's point about girls being weak, wouldn't it? While she was staggering around in the maze, she almost could hear the stupid boy's most stupid voice calling for her, pff, as if he might look for her…_

_Thinking this she ran full-frontal into the said annoying boy, who looked at her amusedly. "Princess-chan, did you by any chance get lost in the maze? If you apologize for shouting at me earlier, I might show you the right way out of here, what do you say?", said the boy who was now extending his hand to help her up. _

_Lucy took his hand and stood up as gracefully as possible, but refused to apologize to him. Instead she just bowed politely and turned around on the search for a way out. When she turned around to see what the boy was doing she saw him following her. _

"_Why are you following me? Tired of playing knight? You are not suited to be one anyway!" the princess said mockingly. The boy just smiled mischievously at her and said "Well, I am still playing knight, can't you see? Right now I am rescuing a damsel in distress. " _

"_Thanks for your kind offer, but I am almost 10 years old now, so I can rescue myself, many thanks. I will find my way out of here in no time you will see", after saying this Lucy sped up to make the boy lose her tracks, but the more she sped up, the faster the boy walked as well, so in the end, instead of focusing on the way that lay before her she just focused on fleeing from him. And suddenly she was standing out in the open, the maze behind her. _

"_See?", she said, turning around to the annoying boy, "I told you I can find the way out on my own. I didn't need your help at all. But… you came after me anyway and my uncle taught me to behave graciously, so even if I think you are annoying, I still have to show you my appreciation for coming after me." _

_Saying that the little girl tiptoed and gave the young boy a peck on the cheek, before swiftly turning around and running into the direction of the castle, before the boy could see the slight blush on her face._

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The next morning, when the princess woke up, the lingering feeling of familiarity she had had the night before had become certainty. She really had met one of the princes' before and he had rescued the stubborn little lost princess by chasing her out of the maze, without her actually realizing he helped her by guiding her in the right direction.

She wondered, no she hoped, the same kindness would still be lingering under his handsome exterior. She was really looking forward to meet her knight at the ball.

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**Any ideas who the mystery knight might be?**


	2. You decide

Hey guys,

I will probably update tonite or early tmr (Monday). I have yet to decide who the mystery prince might be. Just leave me a review and a name and I might take your suggestion into account. Right now its Sting against Natsu :)

Thx for the reviews so far ^^


	3. The royal ball part one

**Dear readers, here is the first part of the royal ball. The second will follow tmr if you like this one ;)**

**As always, please don't mind mistakes in grammar and spelling to much.**

**Thanks to HinaSnowBastia, , Fairy-san, Chiharu Himeji, Feao, whiskalefa and KaUiA for the reviews up until now ^^**

******Disclaimer: Neither Fairy Tail nor the original story of Thousandfur belong to me.**

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**The royal ball (part 1)**

Finally the day of the ball had arrived. While Lucy was dressed up and styled for the ball by her maid Virgo and the court stylist Cancer, she was remembering her dream from last night. The dream that was actually a memory from her childhood. A memory of her knight in shining armor.

Though she would never admit, that he was more than a stupid boy. She wondered how much he had grown and if she still could give him a peck just by tiptoeing.

Since Lucy was the star of the evening, she was the last to enter the dancing hall, accompanied by her father's trusted servant Capricorn, who announced her arrival to the waiting audience of Lords, Ladies and eligible princes.

She was wearing a strapless emerald dress, which fell to her ankles. It embraced her voluptuous curves and made her porcelain skin stand out. Her golden locks were held in an elegant French pleat by a simple but beautiful tiara. The make-up was subtle, but underlined her faces' mesmerizing features. When the beautiful princess entered the room, all conversations came to a halt and an awestruck silence came to pass.

The king danced the first dance of the evening with his daughter and could barely concentrate on the next steps of the dance, mesmerized by her ephemeral beauty. Lucy did notice his unwavering gaze and started to feel uncomfortable and tried to avoid his gaze.

Before her father could ask her for the next dance as well, they got interrupted by a mischievous sounding voice "Dear King, since we were sent here as possible candidates as her husband, would you be so kind to lend your daughter to me for the next dance?"

The king, in an attempt not to let his true emotions surface, kept his calm and handed the princess over to Prince Leonardo Celeste. "I am pleased to make your acquaintance Princess Lucille, I have heard many tales of your infamous beauty, but upon seeing you before me, I have to admit that none of those tales reflect the truth in the least. You are even more beautiful than the brightest star in the sky", the prince said.

"You must be Prince Leonardo Celeste than", said Lucy dryly. "I heard youare known to be very popular amongst ladies of all kinds and shapes".

"Don't you think the female form is beautiful in every kind and shape my dear princess?" replied the prince mockingly.

"I beg to differ in that respect, but I deem you are more experienced than I am, in regard to the female form, so who am I to disagree with you", said the princess with a smirk on her pretty face.

"You are not only beautiful and an excellent dancer, but also quite bespoken, how can I not fall for you this instant. You must give me your heart my princess or else I will fall into the depths of despair and shall never love a maiden again", said Leonardo with a pleading expression on his face.

"First of all, it might not be up to me to decide my future husband and moreover, everyone can speak of shallow promises and flatter me as you do right now, though I can't believe that you would fall in the depths of despair, since you didn't even know me, the day before today", said Lucy and entwined herself from the prince's hands, since the song had just finished.

Before Leonardo could grab hold of her again, she was already swept away by a young raven haired male. "My name is Prince Gray Fullbuster of Kooru, I am delighted to make your acquaintance milady", said the man.

"I am Princess Lucille as you might already know. I am pleased to meet you as well", said Lucy while admiring the prince's graceful style of dancing.

Contrary to her previous dance partner, Prince Gray seemed to be more focused onto the dancing itself than onto his dancing partner. He didn't spend his time with her on flattery but seemed to enjoy the music and the dancing itself. After the dancing finished, he looked her straight into the eyes "You are a very graceful dancer my princess, as expected by someone as mesmerizing as you".

Feeling that this was not mere flattery but an heartfelt compliment, the princess blushed slightly and thanked the Prince for the dance. The very same was just about to ask her for another dance, when somebody bumped into him, carrying a plate full of various kinds of meat.

Prince Gray abruptly turned around "You! You almost made me trip and fall onto the princess; don't you think you should apologize to us?"

The young man, who sported salmon coloured hair, turned around as well, when he saw Gray's face the chicken wings he just had stuffed into his mouth dropped back on the plate.

Gray and the salmon haired man both shouted "You" and charged at each other, forgetting about the princess standing next to them, who observed the happening with an amused grin on her face.

While the fight between the two nobles was broken up by some guards, Lucy decided to visit the dining table herself, to get refreshment, after having been dragged from dance to dance by her father and the princes.

On her way to the dining table, she suddenly felt someone embracing her from behind and putting his hands before her eyes so she couldn't recognize him. Then a male voice was whispering in her ear mockingly "Did you miss me Princess-chan?"

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**Sooo**

**For those of you who prefer Natsu x Lucy, don't give up hope just now. This fanfic won't start off with your favourite pairing, but it might end with it? For now though, there will be another pairing in the focus of attention, as the next chapter will bring to light.**


	4. The royal ball part two

**Hey guys, **

**Here is part 2 of the royal ball. I am really sorry, if it turned out to be a bit on the short side, but I promise that the following chapters are going to be a bit longer than this. This chapter will finally reveal the knights identity, so I might put in an official pairing for the following chapters. BUT as I said before, the pairing will most probably change to NaLu later on. As always, please don't mind mistakes in grammar and spelling too much. Even if I might live in the UK right now, I am not native speaker (unfortunately...)**

**Disclaimer: Neither Fairy Tail nor Thousandfur are mine (unfortunately so...)**

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**The royal ball (part two)**

Lucy broke free of the males forced embrace and turned around to face him, at the sight of him, the words "You are still a stupid boy" died on her tongue. Maybe he was still annoying, no for sure he was still annoying! But… a mere Prince Sting Eucliffe was no more.

His wheat coloured hair was still falling down on his shoulders in slightly messy tangles and his grey eyes were sparkling mischievously as ever, but now she had to do more than just to tiptoe in order to peck his cheek and his body was toned and muscular. He was clad in an elegant black suit which underlined his refined build and Lucy blush slightly, when she recognized that she was openly staring at him, which didn't go unnoticed by the prince.

"Do you like what you see", said Sting grinning, interrupting her thoughts. "As if", said Lucy abruptly and looked down, to not let him see her flushed face.

"I am a bit disappointed I must say, I was expecting a warmer welcome, considering I am your knight in shining armor", said the young man. "After all, I promised you to rescue you, whenever you need me, didn't I? And not to forget, without me you would be still stuck in that maze at your uncles palace, considering how bad your sense of orientation is", said Sting mockingly.

"Knight in shining armor?" I don't need one, you know? I am quite capable to look after myself", said Lucy while trying to think of a better comeback.

"You know, that is the exact same thing you said to me back then, this really feels kind of nostalgic, don't you think? But seriously Princess-chan, who would have thought that the brat from seven years ago would grow up to be as beautiful as you are right now,?" said Sting.

His last remark made the princess look up, since it didn't sound like mockery, but like he actually meant what he was saying. When she looked at him, the expression in his eyes was almost soft and his smile sincere. "Well", she said shyly, "who would have thought that…. that the stupid annoying boy from back then can actually be that nice?"

"Since this is the first time you actually complimented me, I will treasure it, even if it's just calling me nice", said Sting with a grin. "After establishing that we don't hate each other all that much after all, would you be willing to dance the next dance with me Princess-chan?", asked he, secretly expecting the princess to reject him.

"If … if just for this dance then yes. That sounds agreeable to me. After all you're one of the candidates right? So we should at least dance together once tonight…", agreed Lucy and blushing even more when she saw his wide smile after her positive answer.

To the disappointment of all the other noble ladies in the hall, who would have been delighted to dance with the handsome prince as well, Sting and Lucy didn't only share one dance, but all of the following dances as well, except for the three dances that Lucy had to reserve for the three remaining princes Rougue Cheney, Natsu Dragneel and Hibiki Lantis.

Though after having danced with them, she couldn't remember what they talked about or how they exactly looked, since her eyes stayed locked with Sting's, as well as her thoughts. The only time her attention turned towards one of her dance partners was, when she recognized Natsu Dragneel to be the one, that started a fight with the prince from Kooru earlier that evening. She also payed him attention, when he was as daring as comparing her to his cat at home, since she was apparently equally cute.

But most of the time she just thought of Prince Sting and a way to make her father agree to choose him as her future husband and king. She had to admit to herself, that being brought in close proximity to her first innocent love, the flame had been rekindled brighter than before and not as innocent as back than as well. Shortly before the ball ended, she took Sting to her favourite place in the palace, her mother's rose garden.

"My father will announce his choice for my future husband tomorrow morning, before all of you travel back to your home countries. You know, I told myself to just enjoy tonight and to not think of the future, since it is my belief that my influence on my father's decision won't be especially great. But this was before the ball started and I got to meet all of the princes and... got to see you again. Now… well now I wish the decision would be solely up to me, since I have already found my kni- my perfect choice. Even if it might be short-sighted and just the spur of the moment… I know who I would choose if it was up to me. I am sounding silly right? But still… I would choose y- , y-, you Sting…", said Lucy while furiously blushing, but she just had to tell him this that very moment, since it might have been her last chance to confess her true feelings, before giving in and complying to an unlucky marriage with somebody else.

"I feel the same way", said Sting in a serious tone, so atypical for the normally so carefree young man. "I ... I really like you Princess-chan, no Lucy. I might even be as daring as to say I love you. Here, do you still remember this?" Sting asked, while getting a thimble out of one of his pockets. "The day I left back to my home country 7 years ago, you gave this to me and said that this is a true love's kiss, since you read this old fairy tale. You said it's something a princess gives to her knight in shining armor. I know that your father might decide against us, so I am thinking, maybe at least for tonight, can I be your knight again and exchange this kiss against a real one?" Sting asked, gazing into Lucy's eyes not even trying to hide his obviously flushed face anymore.

"You kept the thimble all those years? And here I was thinking you would have long forgotten about this. So… give me back the thimble and I ...I will...,you have to promise me to treasure it, since this is my very first real k-k-kiss, you know? said Lucy stuttering.

Instead of replying, Sting carefully opened Lucy's hand and put the thimble on her palm before he slowly leaned down to her. When their faces were getting closer both of them nervously closed their eyes and finally their lips touched and their kiss and embrace slowly deepened, when suddenly Virgo stepped into the rose garden, which resulted into both of them stepping out of their shared embrace at the sound of her voice. The seemingly unfazed maid told them to go back to the hall and to join in for the last dance of the night, which would conclude the event.

Unbeknownst to them, the king who was standing at the window of the grand hall had observed their loving embrace and their kiss and was now inwardly fuming with jealousy…

After the last notes of the last song filled the dance hall the ball ended and everyone went back to their assigned rooms to get some rest for the remaining hours of the day. Before exiting the hall, Sting and Lucy's eyes locked and their shared a hidden smile before leaving to their respective chambers. In advance to falling asleep, Lucy held onto the thimble and prayed silently that her father's decision would be in her and Stings favor.

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**This time I will use the ending credits to thank KaUia, HinaSnowBastia and Kitkat Tenshi for their reviews. Good guess HinaSnowBastia, by the way. Actually, I planned for it to be Sting all the time. But since there will be two pairings, I wanted to know, who you would prefer to be coupled with Lucy later on. The answer seems to be Natsu so... we'll see :)**


	5. A maiden's heart

**Dear readers, first of all I want to thank all of you for your reviews and favouriting me as an author. I am really happy that you like the story :). Therefore many thanks to Gentleheart , IchigoDREAM , Liquid Twilight , Princess Happy, phantom, Lolita-chi (If so I reached my goal, I wanted him to be disgusting), HinaSnowBastia , Crystilia , Rose Tiger ( just read on ;) ), ross, Feao ( I am happy to hear you thoughts ^^), LeiMei and KaUiA for their reviews. Since I got so many reviews I decided to update today, but due to having to work again starting tmr, the next update might have to wait until the weekend.**

**Disclaimer: Neither Fairy Tail nor Thousandfur are my intellectual property**

**As always please don't mind mistakes in grammar and spelling too much, since English is not my mother tongue.**

**I listened to "From where you are" by Lifehouse while writing. Great song BTW ;)**

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**A maiden's heart**

Early in the morning at the day after the ball, Lucy went to her father's audience chamber to beg him for a favour. She planned on telling him, how much she would appreciate, if he decided to let her marry Prince Sting. After gently knocking on his door, she let herself in. Her father was sitting at his mahogany desk, seemingly forlorn in his thoughts. He only noticed her, when she spoke up

"Dear king, I have a favour to ask you. Please excuse my selfish behavior. This is the first favour I ask of you and the last as well, if you agree to fulfill my wish", said the princess and curtsied slightly.

"A favour?" the king asked, looking up from his desk. "If it is not too unreasonable I will fulfill it, since my lovely daughter's happiness is very important to me."

"I… I beg you dear king, please decide in favour of Prince Eucliff today. In my eyes, he is the most suitable match for me", whispered the princess, shyly looking on the ground.

The king, calm in appearance, slightly nodded his head, "If this is your wish daughter, I will make it come true for you. If your heart truly desires to be with him, then it shall be. I regarded him as one of the most suitable matches for you from the beginning, taking in account his country's wealth and the prince's character".

Lucy was so overwhelmed by gratefulness towards her father, that she stepped forward and hugged him, which left him startled and made it hard for him not to reveal his true feelings towards her. After having hugged the king, the girl suddenly blushed and stepped back quickly. "I am so sorry milord; please forgive me for my rash action. I was just so overwhelmed with joy after hearing you agree to my pleading", the princess said.

The king just regarded her with a polite smile and told her not to worry too much, but excused himself due to work, so the princess left his chamber and went back to hers. When the door closed behind the princes,s the king's polite smile vanished and he told his servant to bring his personal maid in to have a little conversation with her.

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_(A couple of hours later in the dancing hall)_

"Dear Lords and Ladies, dear Princes, we have gathered here to hear me announce my decision regarding my daughter Lucille's future husband and king. After judging her compatibility with the princes' and evaluating the advantages the alliance with the different kingdoms would bring, I finally came to a conclusion. Herewith I announce that my daughter will be engaged to Prince Sting Eucliffe of Cumbria from this moment on and onwards",said the king.

After the announcement the king gestured to Prince Sting to stand beside him and entwined Lucy's and Sting's hands with each other to symbolize the union, which resulted in both of them blushing.

* * *

Before Sting left to return to his kingdom, Lucy made her father agree to her having a conversation in the rose garden with her fiancée. While they were sitting on a bench in the middle of various kinds of sweet smelling roses, Sting took his princess in his strong arms and gently kissed her forehead.

"The moment I heard your father announce my name… I guess now I know what true happiness feels like", said Sting.

"Don't be so cheesy", Lucy replied giggling, "It doesn't suit you at all, you know? Right now, I would expect a snarky comment from you, like "I bet you kneeled before your father and begged him to make you mine", which I did by the way for your information."

"You kneeled before him?" asked Stink, looking slightly worried. "No, but I went to his chamber and asked him to decide in your favour and he agreed… I was so happy", said Lucy blushing.

"So you knew before he announced it, but decided to not give me a sign, so that I could be less tense and full of anticipation?" asked Sting. "Well, you know", replied the princess smirking, "maybe I just wanted you to lose your calm for once."

Instead of answering, the noble smiled playfully and started to tickle Lucy to punish her for not telling him sooner. After a while, spent with teasing each other and shy kisses and embraces, a servant came and told Prince Sting that it was time to travel back to his country.

Before he left, both of them shared a long passionate kiss and the prince whispered in her ear "Hold on to the thimble my dear Wendy, I promise you, I'll be back in no time to take you to Neverland, because now that I found my reason to grow up I'll never let go of it ever again", with those words the prince slowly released Lucy of his embrace and turned around to start the journey back home.

After all the guests and princes had left the palace, Lucy went back to her chambers and asked Virgo for a plain golden necklace to attach the thimble to, so that she could always carry it close to her heart, while waiting for her prince to return.

* * *

A week later during dinner her father informed her, that Prince Eucliffe would arrive in one month time to take his bride to his kingdom. When her father gave her this information, Lucy felt a surge of happiness float through her body and soul. Only one month until she would meet him again, just one month, until he would fulfill his promise to her…

The following weeks became harder and harder to bear for the princess, since she felt like she was constantly watched by someone. Moreover, her father behaved quite irritating towards her. Sometimes, she felt like he was finally opening up to her and they were establishing a real bond between father and daughter; then again he behaved like her mere existence was repulsive to him and turned away from her. She didn't know why he behaved like that and drew the conclusion that he still blamed her for her late mother's death.

Then again, every time they were in the same room, she could feel his gaze lingering upon her and sometimes, when she looked in his direction or talked to him, she didn't feel like interacting with a member of her family, but with a suitor, which made her feel uncomfortable. She blamed the latter on the fact that they hadn't seen each other, since her early childhood, so wasn't it natural that they felt like strangers to each other? But still, her uneasiness grew from day to day and she started to avoid her father's company as much as possible without it becoming too obvious.

Finally the month came to its end and Lucy was eagerly awaiting the prince's arrival. Every night before falling asleep, she envisioned their meeting and how it would be to see him again. She also thought of her future life at his side and even went as far as thinking of names for their future children. But the night before his scheduled arrival, she had a startling dream…

* * *

_In her dream Lucy was standing in a forest. It was early dusk and the air was filled by the songs of various birds. The weather was warm and friendly and it wasn't too cold, even if the sun was about to go down._

_Lucy could even hear the melody of streaming water nearby, maybe a small river? But suddenly the atmosphere changed, it was as if a dark cloud was shadowing the sinking sun and the singing of the birds stopped... _

_Now she could see carriages coming into her field of sight. The horses that were pulling the carriages seemed scared and the smell of blood lay in the air. Moreover, the melody of the nearby stream was overshadowed by the sound of swords colliding with each other. The carriages quickly got surrounded by figures clad in dark cloaks, wielding swords or crossbows. The knights guarding the carriages were overtaken by the large number of bandits and everything drowned in a blood spatter filled chaos. The last thing Lucy saw was a ray of gold and the last thing she heard a sorrowful cry of a raven…._

* * *

When Lucy woke up the next morning, she could feel tears trickle down her porcelain cheeks, without knowing the reason for those, since she couldn't remember her dream. Since she was far too excited by the thought of the prince's scheduled arrival, she didn't spent too much thought on the cause for her tears and blamed it on a mere nightmare.

The more the day progressed the more nervous Lucy became. Where were Sting and his knights? Wasn't his arrival scheduled for today? Didn't the ravens sent back and forth from his men and the palace report that his journey was progressing without any troubles?

At dinner her father tried to calm her by telling her, that the palace didn't receive any news and that it was quite normal to arrive even one or two weeks after the scheduled arrival.

After three days Virgo stroke Lucy's hair, hugged her and said all would be well.

After six days the palace's personnel grew worried since the princess refused to eat, sleep or even leave her chamber.

After one week a raven came…

Two weeks after the prince's scheduled arrival, the king called his daughter into the audience chamber. Her face was hollow and her eyes slightly swollen, but she still held herself up and looked maybe even more mesmerizing grieving than she did happy. Slightly shaking she stood before her king and looked at him with fear in her eyes.

"As you might expect my daughter, we finally got news from your fiancées travel group. To be exact, we already got some information last week, when a raven arrived at the palace, but before informing you I wanted to make sure what really happened":

"To cut it short", the king said with a cruel grin playing around his thin lips, „your Peter has gone to Neverland without you. He and his knights were attacked by a group of bandits, there are no survivors".

Hearing those terrible news be told to her by her father in such a cruel manner was too much for the already weakened princess. Whispering "but he promised me" under tears, she fell in a faint in front of her father.

* * *

Dear StiCy fans, please don't kill me...

Here my defense speech...

Actually I really like StiCy, but to make this FF work I needed a dense prince for the endgame. I don't envision Sting to be the dense type, contrary to Natsu. But I still wanted to try myself on StiCy, since I am thinking of writing another slightly twisted fairy tale story with Rogue x Lucy x Sting in future. Moreover I think it's far too cliche if she would have met the prince she's gonna be with right at the start. I think a twist like this makes it more interesting. Though I was kinda sad myself, when I wrote this :(

The next chapter will be a bit angsty as well, but after that it should be a bit more light-hearted and funny and full of little bonding moments between Lucy and Prince Natsu ;)))) (since I like this pairing too)

Hope you guys read on , thx so far ^^


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